For most people in the movie industry, nabbing an Academy Award is the ultimate achievement. Though there are other prestigious awards, there’s no doubt that being getting an Academy Awards is considered the peak of anyone’s career. But what if instead of being a golden ticket to stardom, an Oscar represented the winner’s downfall in their personal or professional life?
For many celebs, that’s actually quite an unfortunate reality, according to those who fervently believe there’s a curse surrounding Oscar winners. This curse comes in two different forms: it either ruins your career or it ends your love life. Well, at least for a while. So, without further ado, here are 10 celebrities who have been victims of this terrible curse, or if you’re not a believer, who haven’t done so good after their moment of glory.
Adrien Brody
Adrien Brody reached the peak of his career when he played Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Jewish musician who manages to survive the horrors of WWII in his native Warsaw. His intense performance won him the Best Actor Academy Award in 2002. However, his moment of glory didn’t last very long, since he hasn’t been able to land another meaningful part. I mean, it’s not that he’s over: he has had some interesting roles in films like Midnight in Paris (Dir. Woody Allen) or even The Grand Budapest Hotel (Dir. Wes Anderson), but nothing like his part inThe Pianist (Dir. Roman Polanski).
Jean Dujardin
Dujardin had already made a name for himself in his home France before he reached international fame for his groundbreaking role in the silent film The Artist (Dir. Michel Hazanavicius). After winning Best Actor, Dujardin worked in some mainstream films like The Monuments Men (Dir. George Clooney) and The Wolf of Wall Street (Dir. Martin Scorsese), but he never got his thunder back. He still works in France, so let’s hope he breaks the curse and returns to Hollywood as the great actor he is.
Mercedes Ruehl
Who? That’s right. Ruehl’s career was impeccable during the seventies and eighties with great hits that led her to her Oscar nomination in 1991 for her role in Terry Gilliam’s film The Fisher King. Her Best Supporting Actress award seemed to have crowned her, but since then, she only got really small and uninteresting parts, and we can safely say it doesn’t seem she’s getting anything else soon.
Roberto Benigni
When Roberto Benigni’s Life is Beautiful hit international screens, it seemed he had arrived in Hollywood to rule the industry. He received so much praise for his heart-wrenching story that he positioned himself as one of the best actors and filmmakers of his time. Sadly, it seemed that his unique comic style and personality was great for just a bit, and international audiences couldn’t keep up with in his next films. After Life is Beautiful, he did an adaptation of Pinocchio that has literally a 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes. His last film was To Rome with Love (Dir. Woody Allen), and though it was okay, he never reached the popularity he once had.
Hilary Swank
After winning two Oscars before turning thirty, Hilary Swank seemed to have a shining future in Hollywood, but somehow, she never managed to continue her winning streak. She won her first Oscar in 1999 for her role in Boys Don’t Cry (Dir. Kimberly Peirce) and her second for Million Dollar Baby (Dir. Clint Eastwood). After these, she’s only been in really random films. She’s also believed to be the victim of the Oscar love curse, since some months after winning her second statuette she separated from her then-husband, Chad Lowe.
So far we’ve seen the so-called curse affecting their recipients’ careers, but as we saw with Hilary Swank, it can also affect the actor’s love life. The Oscar love curse is thought to have begun during Hollywood’s Golden Age in the thirties and forties when, divas Bette Davis and Ginger Rogers won their own Oscars only to find themselves single the following year. Many believe this is mainly a women’s curse that occurs when their partners can’t handle their success, which wouldn’t come as a surprise to anybody.
Halle Berry
Like Swank, Halle Berry was doubly cursed after being the first African-American woman to win in the Best Actress category for her role in the film Monster’s Ball (Dir. Marc Foster). Although she got some big parts afterwards, including her iconic role as Storm in the X-Men franchise, she was never seen as a strong competitor for the prestigious award. And as if that weren’t enough, she also fell victim to the love curse after separating from her husband Eric Benét the same year she won the award.
Kate Winslet
Winslet is an all-time favorite for many of us since Titanic (Dir. James Cameron), and though she’s managed to keep her career on track, she was still affected by the curse after getting her Best Actress award in 2009 forThe Reader (Dir. Stephen Daldry). The following year, she called her marriage with director Sam Mendes quits after cheating rumors. Still, nothing can ruin this woman’s career and influence.
Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock crowned herself not only as America’s sweetheart for her romantic comedies, but also as a really good actress who could land good projects. Her ease to go between drama and comedy earned her the Best Actress Oscar in 2010 for her movie The Blind Side (Dir. John Lee Hancock). Sadly, just a few days after the ceremony, her husband, James, G. James, was involved in a huge scandal after several women publicly claimed to have had an affair with him. Bullock separated and got divorced the same year.
Julie Andrews
DAME Julie Andrews stole our hearts with her iconic performance in Mary Poppins (Dir. Robert Stevenson) which didn’t only position her as one of our favorites of all time, but also gave her a Best Actress Oscar. Though she’s only gone up from that career-wise, the Oscar curse hit her bad when just a couple of years afterwards she split from Tony Walton after eight years of marriage. The reasons were never known, but honestly, who cares? She did great later on and is still as gorgeous as she was when she entered the industry.
Reese Witherspoon
Last in our list is Reese Witherspoon, who’s been on top in the past years after her performance in the highly acclaimed series Big Little Lies. Witherspoon has no limits, and her career has always been on the right path, but perhaps one of its highlights was her Oscar award in 2005 for Walk the Line (Dir. James Mangold). The following year, though, she split up with her husband Ryan Phillippe, and the year after that, they officially divorced. She’s always said they were both too young when they got married and it never worked. Still, her career has worked perfectly for her.
There’s no way to know if either curse is real, or if it’s just a matter of fate or business. Let’s see how things go this year. Will there be more victims to add to the list?
Write for us:
Are you a Hollywood know-it-all? Speak up! Click on this link and learn how you can become a writer for Cultura Colectiva.
Here are more facts to surprise everybody on Oscar night:
Know Your Oscar History: Here Are The People Who’ve Won The Most Academy Awards
15 Firsts In Academy Award History That Everyone Needs To Know About
10 Forgotten Oscar Winning Movies You Should Really Rewatch
